The contest started at the classroom level in district schools and moved to school championships. The top three placers from each school moved to the district championships and competed through 25 words and two tie-breaker rounds. The elementary division had to go through three tie-breakers to determine the third placer winner.

According to district bee coordinator Cameron Gallop, this year’s tricky words for elementary were “celestial” and “katydid.” Words that tripped up the middle school contestants were “lieutenant” and “recuperate.”